It appears to be more dangerous to work there than a prison; rarely hear of major issues in the prisons. Not to say that a prison model should be emloyed at the Forensic Hospital, but it is obvious that some of the security concepts need to be in place there to protect the staff.

Friday, May 29, 2015

B.C. man who murdered his three children wins escorted outings
Allan Schoenborn has received the B.C. Review Board's approval following his annual hearing as a patient at the province's psychiatric hospital some seven years after he killed his children

Thursday, January 29, 2015

This Water main project to Port Mann, in Surrey, was actually started before the oil pipeline project by Metro Vancouver, and being that it is a government project it grinds along like a glacier; and as usual it ran into problems that required complicated fixes; SEE: Drilling to resume on stalled Metro Vancouver water tunnel for Surrey area

I was sent a report today, created by: Diamond Head Consulting Ltd., entitled:Arborist Report Portman Main No.2, North, Coquitlam, B.C. updated 19 January 2015 (2869K) PDF. No idea where the name of Portman comes from, should read Port Mann I would think, because that is where this water main is going.

I spelled it the way it was written, so we are getting a little closer to Port Mann, but fail in the spelling of "retention". The last PDF is a map of the areas being impacted by the water main going through the Riverview Hospital property. Another nasty scar slashed through the landscape, from Riverview hospital up near Mariner Way, through Colony Farm, through its critical habitat treed wind-break to go under the Fraser River near the Port Mann bridge, and into Surrey and beyond.

Port Mann is named after Sir Donald Mann and most of the area that we know as, Port Mann was previously known as Bon Accord, prior to the railway yards being built there. A salmon hatchery, and a salmon cannery were once in the area, both named Bon Accord.

The project is part of the Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel read the PDF factsheet
From what I understand the numerous pipelines (gas,oil,water,communications) under the river at this point have had issues with the river exposing them, which places large stesses upon them.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

As a result of input from the public last year, Metro Vancouver staff are exploring options for a pedestrian only trail section of the Sheep Paddocks trail in Colony Farm Regional Park. This is in addition to the ongoing design work for a combined cyclist and pedestrian trail. You are invited to attend a workshop to discuss the possibility of a pedestrian only option and help identify key aspects of this project.

Date: Wednesday February 4th, 2015 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Location: Royal Canadian Legion – 1025 Ridgeway Ave, Coquitlam

Please rsvp to colonyfarmoutreach@metrovancouver.org by if you plan to attend the workshop.

Please share this invitation widely with your members and friends. Additional information as well as an online questionnaire will be available on the Metro Vancouver website (search ‘Sheep Paddocks Trail’) starting late next week if you are unable to attend the workshop.

I do not know of any documentaries, written histories of the forensic pyschiatric hospitals in B.C.; there are a few quick summaries, but nothing detailed. I do know that prior to being at Colony farm, they were housed at Essondale, but mostly in Colquitz (1919-1964), for the violent patients, and primarily Oakalla prison (1912-1991) in Burnaby, and also the few other prisons scattered around the province, but they were generally shipped to Oakalla, and then Essondale. Just prior to Colquitz closing, the residents were moved to Colony farm, into the Veterans building, which had been remodelled to house them.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

So we have these horrific murders done by Richard Alexander Huculak (b. 1924? )
Contrary to what the newspapers say, Richard was incarcerated on the 19th of August 1958 to 9 months in the Prince George goal, after being convicted of theft he was moved from there in October to Oakalla prison in Burnaby.
So not that long after his release the murders occurred.
He was remanded in September of 1959 to Oakalla; then in October 1959 taken to Essondale, for assessment. He was found to be insane and was to be kept under strict custody; by 1969 he was allowed to move between Colony Farm and Essondale; but in 1973 dismissed from working at Colony Farm, as incapable of work. In 1977 he was discharged, and in May of 1982 he was given an absolute discharge. I could find no trace of him, after he left the hospital. One of the reports though does list his name with the addition of HOLM in brackets on the end, so possibly he changed his name, which is a common practice

Evidently not forgotten after all these years, impossible to forget such a tragic event for all concerned. The husband Claude Andrew Townsend,( 1922 – 1996 ) who appears to have used his middle name Andrew Townsend throughout his life, must have faced a huge uphill battle to take care of the remaining three children.
The lady who is mentioned in the newspapers as being the first on the scene is Freda Margaret Anderson (unknown – unknown ) buried at the Fruitvale Memorial cemeteryHer husband:Elmer Roy Plested ( 1912 - 1992 ( a )-( b ) ) is also buried at the Fruitvale Memorial cemetery
Freda must have carried the horrible scene she found in her head for the rest of her life. Not helped by what the uncompassionate, incompetent bureaucracy did to her in her twilight years
Compassionate care can't be measured with money

The recent situation regarding seniors' health care is indeed tragic, as demonstrated in the case of Fanny and Alfred Albo, but definitely not unique. My neighbour, whose mother Freda Plested was a lifelong resident of the Trail area, also died after much stress because of her continued relocation. The stress on Freda and on her family was very evident. Frail adults cannot physically handle such anxieties.

FEBRUARY 27, 2006 DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY It was a first-available-bed policy that was going to have Freda Plested moved from her home in Trail to Grand Forks. The family was so upset that they instead opted to pay $145 a day to have her cared for in a private facility near their home.
Rest in Peace

Dangerous place to work it appears; appalling that the bureaucrats running the place were not found partially responsible for not having in place the proper procedures. So now we have one government department, paying a $75,000 fine to another government department, using OUR money of course.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Vancouver --- A prisoner of the Forensic Psychiatric Institute claims in a Supreme Court writ that the government has violated Canada's 145-year-old anti-slavery law by forcing the institute's prisoners to work.

Anthony LeMay also claims that the prisoners should be paid the minimum wage. He is suing on his own behalf and on behalf of all other persons held in the institute at Colony Farm Road, Coquitlam, B.C. Defendants in the action are the Crown, the institute, and the executive director Dr. John P. Duffie.

The writ asks for a declaration that by forcing any of the plaintiffs to work, the defendants have "violated the Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British colonies; for promoting the industry of manumitted slaves; and for compensating the persons hitherto entitled to the services of such slaves ( 28th August, 1833 )."

Anthony Joseph LeMay was convicted on the 25th of June 1973 of being a common nuisance and mischief, and also insane , and sentenced to the Forensic Institute.
In 1978 he was released, but he violated his conditions by not taking his medications, and was brought back into the institution, they tried again to release him in 1979, and granted him another conditional discharge. And finally in September of 1983 he was granted an absolute discharge.

[ King William IV gave royal ascent to the act to abolish slavery in all dominions of the British Empire (except in territories of the east India Company, and the islands of Ceylon and Saint Helena). It came into effect on the 1st of August 1834, and this day became known as Emanicipation Day ]

I have no idea how the court case went, probably not very far.

But it did bring up the valid point of equal pay, for equal work. since the patients worked for very little, and working with them were highly paid staff.
It was the beginning of the end, soon the patients would not be working on the farm anymore, and everything was done by paid staff, which cascaded into a race to the bottom, and the eventual closure of the farming operations at Colony Farm.

As is detailed slightly more in the article below when the Government closed it down just four years later.

1983 August 8 The Citizen

Not long after this all kinds of ideas sprang up ; turn it into a golf course, a race track… another time.. another story

It appears rather silly and harmless for the patient, and raises the eternal question of how did he escape? That we may never know, he was only there a few months. But I dug deeper and found a rather sad story, as most of my researches into Essondale, Colony Farm usually do.

1981 December 1 The Montreal Gazette, tells slightly more of the story.

Michael "Mike" John Shilling, used his bother George CharlesShilling’s passport to go to Australia; unknown where he got the money to do so.

Michael’s parents were Raymond "Ray" Charles Shilling, and Sylvia Mae BarlowRay Charles Shilling was born 8th of May 1930 Toronto, Ontario; his parents were: Grace Eleanor Shilling, and Lavern Shilling (b.1904, Ohio) they were married on the 15th of September 1928. In 1943 the family immigrated to the U.S.A. Raymond Charles Shilling apparently was married to Mary ? on the 12th of December 1980 at Palm Beach, Florida; did not last very long, since a divorce was granted on the 1st of October 1981, at Palm Beach.

Michael repeatedly stabbed his mother in the back at her home at 120-1870 McKenzie Avenue, Saanich, on her birthday.

Sylvia Mae Barlow ( 23rd of June 1934 – 23 June 1980 ) was a teacher at Camosun College, near Victoria, B.C. And was divorced at the time and was using her maiden name of Barlow. Sylvia's parents were William Barlow and NinaBarlow, both of England.

Michael was initially charged with 1st degree murder, and was later acquitted on the 10th of October 1980, after being found to be insane, and sent to the Forensic Institute.
Michael was eventually brought back to the Forensic Institute at Colony Farm, from Australia, and a few years later committed suicide by hanging himself.

Michael John Shilling ( Vancouver, B.C. 21 July 1958 – 30 December 1985 Coquitlam, B.C. )
Just another sad story

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Apparently the Trans Mountain Expansion Project,(AKA Kinder Morgan) want to use the fields of the forensic institute portion of Colony Farm, to store their vast quantities of pipe, and also use the area as a general staging area. And possibly even continue through the park, and along the Lougheed Highway on its way to LaFarge, then Burnaby (download the PDF). Not an appropriate use for farmland, in my mind.

A cropped shot of a better quality image than is found in the public document. Easier to visualize the huge impacts that the pipeline would have on Colony Farm Park from this picture.

Press Release:

We value the feedback, questions, concerns and comments from communities through which our pipeline study corridor runs. It has, and will be, used in our planning as we continue to optimize our study corridor and then ultimately our pipeline route.

We invite you to join us to learn about and provide your input to the optimization of the proposed pipeline study corridor for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project in person or online:

IN PERSON

Burnaby Open House
April 3, 2014
Drop in between 7:30pm and 9:30pm
Executive Plaza
405 North Road,
Coquitlam

ONLINE
Go to Trans Mountain Talk after the event to review material shared at the Open House and provide your feedback.

Should you have any questions please don t hesitate to contact us at info@transmountain.com or 1.866.514.6700. More information about our proposed project is available at Trans Mountain
Address: 2844 Bainbridge Avenue, PO Box 84028, Bainbridge, Burnaby, BC V5A 4T9
Twitter: @TransMtn

Trans Mountain of course in theory must answer to the National Energy Board, (NEB) the public can view the regulatory documents that the various companies submit in their applications.

Not directly related to the Trans mountain application, but related to transportation in Burrard Inlet : 1973 Oil spill in English Bay Trans Mountain of course will create a large increase in shipping traffic through Burrard Inlet, much more than they do at the present time.

Personally I struggle with the fact that a company can apply to build something, yet they have no idea where it will be located. Kind of like me going to the nearest city and saying, I want to build a gazillion square foot building, but I have no idea where yet, and expect an Okay from the local council; something wrong here.

On very short notice, some concerned citizens gathered at Colony Farm, the show their displeasure at Kinder Morgan, wanting to damage the park. A few more pictures of the event HERE

Friday, February 14, 2014

In the Victoria, B.C., newspaper, The Daily Colonist, of December 3, 1911 there is an article about the local Conservatives, having a look around Colony Farm, I shared another image in the past that must have been taken on the same day, in this POST

The arena barn, this building was Huge! over 200 feet in length; sadly destroyed by an arson fire.

A different look at the bunkhouse, still standing today. Still waiting for the bureaucrats to make the right decision to properly conserve the building, tick-tock-tick-tock.

Excuse the quality that is as good as it gets, from a lousy scan that UVIC did of these papers.

This is the oldest building still standing at Colony Farm, Riverview in its day it was known as the tank house, because the tower contained a large wooden water tank, all since long removed with the wooden protection, walls, and the porch clearly shown here is also long removed.

This appears to be on the Port Coquitlam side of the farm, commonly called the Wilson Farm,(which was really further north than here) the wooden building I believe was something to do with feeding the pigs, sheep, cattle at various times in its history.

Friday, November 01, 2013

This has been a number of years in the brewing, as usual it will cost the taxpayer dearly to get this trail opened up again.

NA-39905 BC Archives. Flooded CPR tracks 30 May 1948

Sheep Paddocks is the entirely flooded area in this picture above the CPR tracks, that run diagonal through this image. The present area under study is to the left of the five trees, sadly now long gone.

Farm Cottage I

Farm Cottage II

Farm Cottage III

Farm Cottage IV

Farm Cottage V

Farm Cottage VI

Farm Cottage VII

Farm Cottage VIII

Any Questions?

Do you have any questions or feedback about the park. If so a
Send E-mail A "sustainability" visioning exercise, has been slowly moving along, pushed along by the GVRD. A draft report,(PDF) is available